Melt My World
by Evening Lilacs
Summary: He was teaching her to shoot an arrow. That was all. He wasn't falling in love. He could never fall in love, never. And he didn't fall. He lost his grip and plummeted. Inuyasha x Kagome, AU
1. prologue

DISCLAIMER.  
Evening Lilacs does not own Inuyasha.

AUTHOR'S NOTE.  
All chapters after this will be longer; this is just the prologue.

xdXbx

"So... are you interested?" 

The white-haired, burgundy-eyed, half-demon boy known as Inuyasha snorted, head ticking off to the side in annoyance, arms crossed, back against a tall tree deep within an ancient forest.

"And what exactly do you find to be so..." Miyatsu, headmaster of Elmsmagick Fighting Academy, tried to find the right word for the implication of the dog demon's snort. "-so laughable about this?"

"You want ME... to teach some new GIRL-"

"Kagome is her name. Higurashi Kagome."

"Fine. You want me to teach HIGURASHI KAGOME to learn to shoot an arrow? Why would I be interested in THAT?"

Miyatsu looked desperate. "Please, Inuyasha... She has great power, and it will go to such a waste if we don't train her."

"What happened to your zillion-and-one archery teachers, eh, old man?" he snapped back, eyes flashing slightly. Rule one of surviving a conversation with Inuyasha: don't get him annoyed.

The man's expression changed to an embarrassed one as he leaned into the younger's ear. "Because... you're better than them. I want this girl trained well. We both know you're only really here for the sword-weilding lessons."

"Yeah, and what makes this one girl so special that you need a top-notch teacher? What difference does it make if she's just a novice anyhow?" he asked boredly, examining his claws.

Miyatsu sighed loudly. "You're supposed to have said yes by now, you know! I thought boys your age LIKED girls!"

The teenager's gaze snapped sharply upward. "What were you trying to do, SET ME UP!" Rule two of surviving a conversation with Inuyasha: DON'T get him mad.

Another sigh. "Inuyasha... Don't you think you need something other than your aspirations to your life?"

"What's WRONG with my aspirations?" Rule three of surviving a conversation with Inuyasha: DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, get him insulted.

"Erm... nothing, nothing. But... will you do this anyways?"

"Fine. You're just going to keep badgering me about this, I can tell." The adolescent hanyou stomped off through the forest, leaving his headmaster alone.

_'Hah. That boy has no idea what he's in for. According to grandson Miroku, she's the prettiest kind of girl there is.'_

He smiled softly.

_'Allow yourself to get attached to something, Inuyasha. Allow yourself to care.'_

xdXbx

Please review?


	2. Drawn To Her

DISCLAIMER.  
Evening Lilacs does not own Inuyasha (though she wishes she did... -drool-).

xdXbx

"Miss Higurashi, Inuyasha. Inuyasha... Kagome."

Miyatsu stepped back from the two with a strained smile, wringing his hands nervously. He waited for some sign from Inuyasha that he had recognized the girl's existence.

Snort.

That was good enough.

"So, um... I'll leave you two to it, then... um... Inuyasha... yes. Well, I do hope you're able to make yourself quite at home here, Miss Higurashi! A good and... productive day to you both!" He left with a backhanded wave, the two teens standing next to a wide tree marked with two chipped-in rings, a completely carved-out circle in their center. The demon sighed in frustration.

"At least I get to skip those worthless survival lessons because of you," he muttered breathily.

"Um... It really is nice of you to do this for me... I've never even held a weapon before... heh." She looked uncertainly into his eyes, searching for an indication that what she had said was acceptable. No response came, however. He merely stared at her. Skinny, average proportions, black hair, pale skin. Never held a weapon.

Hell, this was MIROKU'S kind of girl. What was HE doing with her? Obviously, Miyatsu was trying to set her up with the wrong person.

The WRONG person.

Of course. After all, what else would he be?

A very small voice at the back of his head that had appeared there when he was about ten, and only grown in volume since, ventured forward. 'The right person?'

Ridiculous. Completely and totally ridiculous.

"Uh, um..."

"Here." He shoved a bow into her hands, boxing his ears with somewhat confused and slightly off-center fists. "PLEASE tell me you at least know how the thing's supposed to go, girl."

Her eyes were large and liquid, like birds' eye views of steaming cups of coffee. They widened at this statement, taking in the device of death that had been thrown into her grasp like a commoner's rake.

"I-I-"

The dog-demon rolled his eyes. "Geez, where are you FROM?" he asked, gazing upon her garb. The Elmsmagick girls uniform of a long red skirt, a white under blouse, and a red shift seemed to float, cloudlike, upon her body. Where WAS she from? Certainly not the same place any of the other girls there were.

He hadn't just thought that. It was all the voice's fault.

"A bit north of here. My family owns a... a shrine, I guess you could call it..." The timid girl's expression wavered into a gentler form for a second, then assumed its previous blank smile. "Oh, I'm sorry for spacing out on you like that."

"Tch. You think I care?" He turned his back to her, taking fifty lanky strides from their tree target. To Kagome, the bow and arrow seemed to raise at their own will, zinging to life not at his command, but of that accord. Snapping back, the slingy wooden contraption launched its brother forward into a perfectly executed bull's-eye on the tree.

"How did you...?"

Another roll of the eyes. "That was nothing. That's 'our goal,' according to Miroku."

"Our... goal?"

"For the future, of course." He snorted. "You think we expect a human to get this right in any semblance of quickly? Don't make me laugh." He folded his arms across a thin chest, dropping down into a cross-legged position on the grass.

Twenty-five feet above the field on which the two stood, another teenager, this one of medium height and short black hair, pounded a fist into the ground.

"Inuyasha, you idiot! The girl of my dreams comes here, and you not only steal her from me, but you scare her out of her mind—ON HER FIRST DAY! Have you no experience, you big buffoon? ARG!"

"I thought that pretty one named Sango was 'the girl of your dreams' just a few days ago, Miroku."

"Ah- Oh, grandfather."

"Well, which one is it?"

"Kagome..." He drifted off, eyes falling back onto the two and their archery. "And you've forbidden me make any moves for her affections," he added with a sneer.

"Of course I have. That girl is out of your league, and in Inuyasha's."

"W-W-WHAT? Since WHEN?"

"Since I said so."

Miroku looked utterly defeated.

xdXbx

Utterly defeated. If there were two words to describe Inuyasha's position at the moment, those would be them. HOW in the SEVEN HELLS was he supposed to get this chick to shoot the damn arrow right?

Seeing the half-demon's irritated expression, Kagome took a passive step backwards. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I stink at this."

"Feh. Suck at this is what you do."

"Yes... I suppose you're right." She lowered her head, oak orbs falling into the slightest of shadow.

"H-Hey, are you crying?"

"O-Oh, I'm-m sorry. I'm so dumb."

A sort of chilly shock ran through the white-haired teen's body, and he shivered in the cool shade of the tree they'd been targeting for nearly two weeks now.

"Wait, don't say... Don't say that!"

"But it's-s true! I haven't even hit the tree y-yet!" She drew further away from him, numbly collapsing on the ground. He gasped to see her pure tears freely watering the grass around her.

"You think I expected you to? I was only telling the truth! It wasn't meant as an insult or anything." Someone happening to overlook this scene might in fact find it quite a comical one, what with all the directions such a powerful demon's arms could flail in. It was not, however, very funny for a certain hanyou.

"Don't CRY! I didn't mean it like that, I-"

"Shut UP! It's true, and you know it!"

"But it hasn't even been-"

"I don't CARE! I want to be strong, so I can-" She gasped, clamping a hand over her mouth. Her eyes grew fierce.

"So you can what?" Inuyasha knelt uncertainly next to the girl, despairing as his hands gently rested themselves on her knees. Stupid things, making a soft fool of him like that.

'Oh, it's your hands' fault, is it? It's not like YOUR brain controls them, or anything like that.'

Damn right not.

She looked up to his face, streaming eyes giving away her surprise.

"You...care?"

"Tch. Just calm down, all right? It's impossible for me to teach you if you're crying all over the place, you know. Girls, you're all like this."

She smiled slightly, softly. "Yeah, I guess. But... do you really mind it that much? Don't boys cry, ever?"

"W-What?"

"Don't tell me YOU don't cry sometimes, Mr. Macho. Don't you have someone or something you love enough to cry about if anything went wrong with them or it? Don't you care about something like that?"

"This... really means that much to you?"

She nodded, more tears rolling placidly down from the corners of her eyes. "A lot... It means a lot."

Why did it surprise him so? Sango went on and on about someday avenging her village after it had been attacked by evil demons, Miroku chased after girls as if they were his lifeline, Shippou practiced his fox fire obsessively 'to show his daddy when he reached heaven.' So what was it about this passion of hers that had such an effect on him? Why was his blood racing as though on wheels, his chest aching, his cheeks... flushing?

No.

YES.

What was going on?

"Uh..." He was rendered speechless by the embrace he had unknowingly pulled her into, feeling her cool forehead on his shoulder. Uh. That was all he could manage to gasp out.

He was getting sick, no doubt about it. He needed to rest. Yes, that was it.

"Here..." Careful not to cut her skin with his claws, he swiped the tears from her cheeks. "Come on. I don't think Miyatsu would mind too much if we went inside a little early tonight. You don't want anyone to see you like this, from what I know about girls when they cry. I'll get you back to your dorm..."

Kagome, stunned, took the hand he offered to her. They walked inside the academy up the hill from their field.

To be greeted at the door by Miyatsu. Holding hands. What luck.

"Oh, are the two of you done for the day? Isn't it a bit early?"

Kagome hid slightly behind the other teen's broader shoulders.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Erm... nothing, I suppose-"

"Good. Then we'll continue."

"Could I have a word after you two are finished with whatever you're doing? Inuyasha?"

Kagome's light voice seemed out of place as she spoke, "You can talk to him now. I'll be fine getting back... but thank you very much."

"Are you sure you'll be all right? I don't want you cutting us short like this tomorrow too, you know, so don't you go and get used to it!"

She smiled faintly. "I won't. Thank you."

And she was gone.

And, for some inexplicable reason, he wished she'd stayed there, clawing slightly at the back of his kimono.

xdXbx

**xPhantomChick** – I have! Thanks for the review!  
**xTara** – Thankies!  
**xinu-dog-dem** – You too!  
**xTouchofPixieDust** – Thanks, and I love your pen name, too. XD  
**xJess-chan of the Nya Nya Neko** – I try, that I do. -coughOBSESSEDWITHKENSHINcough- Mmph... Kawaii Kenshin... -comes back from daydreaming- Thanks!  
**xDivineRoseKeeper** – That name sounds so mystic and sophisticated... yeah. Thanks to you as well!  
**xAlex** – Mucho thanks to you! I'm glad you thought it was funny!  
**xkiwiTNT** – Thanks, and I do plan on updating this one often.  
**xElectric Fire** – Oh yeshyesh, Miyatsu ish quite naughty, that he is. XDXDXD You're definitely right on that one; I adore that smiley!

Please review?


	3. Kagura of the Dragon Fans

DISCLAIMER.  
Evening Lilacs -sniff- does not -sniff- own Inuyasha.

xdXbx

"So, how's everything going?"

Snort. "She can't shoot for her life."

Miyatsu nodded slowly. "And how are other... _things_... going?"

The demon felt a sudden urge course through him to dearly hurt the monk. His eyes narrowed dangerously, unseen by the elder of the two. Ooh, if Miyatsu wasn't the headmaster of the best school in the country...

"Other things? Such as?" Had he planned for his voice to come out strained? Had he planned for his chest to constrict? Had he planned for his head to spin?

"Oh... never mind... Maybe I AM a little early... Well, you've got some free time now, and I've got a survival course to supervise, so I'll see you around."

He left the confused teenager through the huge front doors of Elmsmagick. But they had barely shut before reopening, a very mad-looking Miroku entering the front hall.

"Inuyasha." A growl.

The other boy snapped out of his daze. "What do YOU want?"

"What do I want? I want to know why she was crying! What the hell did you do to her!"

"What--! ME? She did it to herself, sleazeball!"

"Like I'm supposed to believe that?"

"As a matter of fact, you are." The white-haired boy's eyes grew cold, hand moving to the hilt of his sword. "You'd be honored to face this blade, wouldn't you, Miroku? How about it, huh? The most powerful type of sword in all Japan, up and ready to face you..."

Miroku snarled. "I haven't got the time." He left for his dorm room without a second glance, leaving the demon fuming. Smart move, that was. Ooh, if Miroku's grandfather wasn't the headmaster of the best school in the country...

"Wow, Inuyasha. I never thought I'd see _you_ in a fight over a girl."

He whirled at the voice behind him. "Shippou..."

"So how long have you been crushing on her, huh?"

Ooh, if Shippou wasn't two feet tall...

"Can it, Shippou."

"So it's true! HAH!"

"Shut up, Shippou!"

"Testy, eh?"

"SHUT UP, I SAID!" He took off for his own dorm room, feelings swelling in his chest, pushing up his neck and through to his eyes, squeezed into a salty, liquid form.

He reached the dorm and flung the door open. No one in there. Good. If there had been, they just might have had to die long, drawn-out, painful deaths. Either that or Inuyasha would have gone somewhere else to sulk. Collapsing on his bed, he let out a small moan.

What was WRONG with him? Why had he reacted that way to Miyatsu, Miroku, even Shippou's words? She was a GIRL, a wimpy, small, annoying GIRL. She had absolutely no business making him miserable.

He sulked.

About a half-hour later, his classmate Kouga entered the dorm room.

"Why the narrowed eyes, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha decided to ignore the inquiry, sending back one of his own.

"Where've YOU been, eh?"

"Making out with Ayame."

"Wa... gw... oo... yuh... WHAT!"

"Making out with Ayame," Kouga repeated just as calmly, wiggling out of his red uniform overshirt in order to be more comfortable.

"Since WHEN do you two-"

"Have a 'relationship?' Since about fifteen minutes ago."

This was followed by more spluttering from Inuyasha, and more calm, scary smiling from Kouga.

"If you hadn't ditched survival class for that new girl, you'd have seen the whole thing."

"I don't want to KNOW the whole thing," Inuyasha snapped, flipping over to face the wall next to his bed.

"Hey, it's a GIRL you're all wound up over, isn't it? Who'd have thought Elmsmagick Academy's pride and joy had hor-"

"**IT'S NOT A GIRL**!"

"Whoa there, no need to-"

_'BRIIIIIZZ, BRIIIIIZZ, BRIIIIIZZ, BRIIIIIZZ, BRIIIIIZZ!'_

"What the heck?" Kouga asked, jumping back as stinging noises resounded through the building.

"Baka! The place is either being attacked or on fire! Go get some lower-level twerps out; I need to get my ass to where the trouble is and help!"

Kouga hurried, though he smiled inwardly at how Inuyasha's potty mouth never failed, even in times of extreme stress.

Inuyasha ran to the academy's front entrance, the meeting place for the teachers and exceptionally powerful students of Elmsmagick in times of emergency. Which weren't all that frequent. Pupils were running about crazily, fright and terror showing on many faces, worried bravery on others.

Miyatsu and his right-hand, Kaede, were there, with them Miroku and Inuyasha's friends Sango and Kikyou. Next to Kaede stood swordmaster Toutousai.

"What's going on?" he demanded, rushing into the tight circle the six had formed.

"Inuyasha, you're here!" Kikyou exclaimed. "It's a demon attack!"

"Where?" he demanded, flexing his claws.

"Follow me, now that we're all here," Miyatsu commanded, leading Kaede forward through hordes of confused schoolchildren.

"There!"

Sango gasped at the sight of the school's entire left wing being completely demolished by what seemed to be a blade-sharp storm of... _fans_.

"Fans?"

"Apparently," Miyatsu confirmed grimly. "This is powerful magic, not your normal bounty hunter. We're dealing with real cunning here."

"Hmph. It's been long enough since we saw someone with actual talent." The dog-eared demon ran forth with a yell, slashing through the already-damaged part of the building to locate their offender. Sango, Kikyou, and Miroku dove into action after him, Toutousai watching the boy's swordplay with interest.

"Much more aggressive today than usual."

Miyatsu watched, horrified, as a woman emerged out of the mist.

"My God, it can't be!"

"What is it, Miyatsu?" Kaede asked, a hand on the man's shoulder.

"If that's who I think it is, that boy's dead!" He made to jump forward, but was stopped by Toutousai.

"I think he can handle it."

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?"

"Probably."

"Care to tell me exactly who you two think that woman is?"

"Kagura of the Dragon Fans," was the mutual reply.

"Get him OUT of there!"

"No," Toutousai repeated firmly.

"Toutou..."

"There's something different about him today. The power emanating from that weapon is.. INCREDIBLE."

The thoughts of the boy in question were a bit different.

_'What is she MADE OF! I'm going to get KILLED! Why is no one else HELPING!'_

He was about to yell down to his 'friends' to get themselves over there or suffer dearly, when he saw her. Kagome was propped up against the back of a tree, bleeding. _'That's right, the girls' rooms are in the left wing!'_ Some mediocre fighter was bandaging her arm, Homo Ackupoki or something like that.

The teen felt a sudden wave of remorse for this fan-wielding lady. How DARE she hurt Kagome? HOW DARE SHE!

"OUT OF MY WAY, WITCH!"

He lunged forward, channeling all the power of his flaming emotions into his blade.

"Oh, my!" Kaede gasped, seeing it literally ignite. "Toutousai-"

"No, that was NOT in that sword's design!" The sword's maker looked equally stunned, if not more, at its performance.

"His EYES!" someone shouted, and all gazes fell upon his. Kikyou clutched her bow to her chest, terrified.

"Is he still... sane?"

Sango stood by her friend, her face reflecting the same fear.

"I'm... I'm not sure."

"GIRLS, LOOK OUT!" Sango blindly flung Hiraikotsu, hearing Miroku's deep bellow, and one of Kikyou's arrows shot clear through its path. The two females hugged each other close in cold distress, each of their weapons having missed their target—a not-so-nice looking, giant fan heading straight for Sango's forehead. She screamed, burying her face in Kikyou's shoulder, and waited for the final blow to her life...

It never came. Silence fell all around Sango, and she looked up timidly to see Miroku's back, a shield erected about the three teens.

"Miroku...!"

"Your boomerang is heading back; get ready to catch it! I'll open this thing when it comes, then we charge! Kikyou, get one of your arrows ready!"

They broke loose in a split second's flurry of activity. Sango grabbed her weapon, spinning it ably over her head and shoulders. She ran to catch up with the others, who carried lighter arms. She hadn't anticipated a root sticking out and tripping her, and hit the ground with a cry of pain as her right leg twisted under her.

"Sango!" Miroku rushed back to her, kneeling by her side. For barely a moment he felt a flicker of his old affections for her leap up within his chest, and he willed himself to calm down.

"What happened?"

"I fell on my leg, but get back there and help the others!"

"And leave you here? What if that those things decided to target you?"

"Miroku..."

"I can heal it temporarily so you can keep fighting, if you don't mind... um..." He blushed deeply, drawing back.

Sango, understanding what he meant, pulled her uniform skirt up to her thigh with a small smile at how cute he looked when he was embarrassed.

...WHAT was that! WHERE had THAT come from?

"Here..." He returned her smile, gently running two fingers down the length of her leg and murmuring a simple incantation. "You should be able to get up now." She took the strong hand he held out to her, allowing herself to lean slightly into his back before locking back onto the battle at hand.

The extremely bloody battle at hand.

Miyatsu, Kaede, and Toutousai had now joined in with the others, working in a natural formation perfected throughout their many years spent in harmony. Sango loved the beauty of it, always grasping an opportunity to watch the three teachers working together. _'Maybe one day, I can do that with Miroku, Inuyasha, and Kikyou. Maybe we can be like that.'_

A shriek came from a tree nearby, and Sango whirled to see Kagome and a boy named Aki... something cowering in fear of a perfectly gigantic paper fan hurtling itself in their direction. This one was a giant patch of purest cerulean, putting spotless summer skies to shame. What a pity it wasn't on their side.

The girl darted forward, but before she could get there, Inuyasha bounded in, slicing it in half and turning to its controller. He bore his horrid fangs at the strange woman, and she hissed, backing away slowly until her feet came to rest on a large leaf. She and the leaf took off, leaving the Elmsmagick grounds a scene of complete chaos.

Miyatsu stared, dumbfounded, at the dilapidated left Elmsmagick wing.

"Just the left wing, Miyatsu?"

"Just the left wing, Kaede."

They stared for as long as they could bear at the smoldering remains of what had once been the girls' dormitories. Kaede's girls, her dear girls, to which she was somewhat of a second mother. Miyatsu pulled the woman close to him, and they continued to stare, Kaede through her tears.

Meanwhile, Toutousai found himself rather interested in other matters. He watched closely the wielder of his masterpiece blade.

Inuyasha flew across the grounds to a certain tree, one thought running through his head over and over.

_'Get to Kagome, get to Kagome, get to Kagome..."_

And he did, coming to a sharp halt next to Aki... dude. "Kagome! Kagome, are you all right?" He shook her, much to Aki's despair.

"Please, she's lost quite a bit of blood."

"I'M WELL AWARE OF THAT!"

"I... Inuyasha?"

"Kagome! How are you?" She was taken aback by the creases of concern that accented his face.

"I'm... fine..." She attempted to sit up, falling back as pressure was put on her bandaged arm. He caught her shoulders, easing her back against the trunk of the tree she lay under. Akiwhatever had left somewhere in between; he wasn't sure when.

"Are you comfortable?"

"Yes... Thank you."

The male of the two squirmed. "Uh... Kagome, about earlier, I really am sorry for insulting you like that. I... I realize now that it was... wrong. I'm sorry." He looked away, feeling his neck begin to heat. He shivered as she laid her hand on his, the act spreading goosebumps up his arm.

"I accept that."

Inuyasha found himself at a loss for breath, the warmth in his lower neck slowly sneaking upwards.

"Is there... any way I can make it up to you?"

"I think you just did."

Inuyasha turned in surprise to see the corners of her mouth angled upwards at a soft incline, her eyes wet.

"Are you... Hey, you're—you're crying! Was it something I said?" he asked, feeling on the brink of tears himself.

"No, no... I'm just so happy..." She started to sob, much to white-haired boy's discomfort.

"Wh-what?"

"You're s-such a good friend, Inuyasha. Thank you s-so much," Kagome sniffled, swatting a few sticky bangs out of her face. She snorted in agitation as they merely fell back over her eyes.

He gently lifted a hand to her forehead, using his claws to carefully brush the offending hair behind each of her ears. It relieved him to see her smile.

"Thanks."

He didn't say anything, just pressed her head further back to rest on his shoulder, putting an arm around her own, slimmer shoulders. She yawned, leaning into him. Dusk was falling by this time, and the night's first stars were beginning to appear.

A smirk spread itself over Toutousai's facial features. _'So that's why he had so much power today... Oh, he is never going to hear the end of THIS. Well, I'll give them some privacy.'_

"Toutousai!" Good thing, too. If he hadn't, Miyatsu and Kaede would have seen them. As much as he liked to tease and torment the adolescent half-demon, he also liked just as much to be the only one able to do this. He would save THIS dirt for an especially good argument, and see how red that boy went. Oh yes, he had PLANS for this exclusive information, PLANS...

"Toutousai, can you hear me?"

"Miyatsu?"

"Toutou... The entire left wing is gone, nothing more... It cut off exactly where the front hall starts; it's like she was... making a statement, or... or something."

"What do you think, Toutousai?" an equally confused Kaede asked, coming up behind the headmaster-monk.

"I think... they're after something we have in that wing, and they don't care what happens to the rest of us."

"But... what do we have there?"

"Indeed..." Toutousai stole a last glance at the couple underneath their wide tree before giving his full attention to the two adults. "Indeed..."

Kikyou had helped Sango to a comfortable spot on the ground, and was taking a better inspection of her leg than Miroku could do in the fifteen seconds he had spent on it. Though she had to admit, he'd done a pretty nice job.

"That was so scary."

"Which part?" Sango asked dryly, rubbing her forehead with a sweaty free hand.

"Inuyasha. He looked... I don't know... Am I the only one that was that afraid of him like that?"

Sango surveyed her friend's face for a minute, then asked quietly, "You're in love with him, aren't you?"

Kikyou froze, unable to answer.

xdXbx

sings- "Love is in the air..."

XD

**xSilverOtaku** – Love your pen name. Very cooky, very kewl. Lol, I love blushing Inuyasha too. :)  
**xInsane Chipmunk** – Woopsies, my B, my B. I have changed it. -spells- H-i-g-u-r-a-s-h-i. WOOT for the export feature!  
**xImCrazyAndProudOfIt** – Yeshyesh he does, very much so. -sighs- Ah, demon/human love...  
**xAlex** – Regarding the pairings, I think this chapter pretty much gave you a big hint. And yesh, he has to love her already, because with all that's going to happen to these poor tortured peoples, they won't have much time to do a ton of flirting for a WHILE. XD  
**xinu-dog-dem** – Thankies!  
**xJess-chan of the Nya Nya Neko** – WOOOOOOOT FOR KENSHIN! Oh yes, this is an Inuyasha fic, ain't it? Woot for Inuyasha. LOL. Thanks to you too!  
**xElectric Fire –** Shippou's more of the "annoying little dude that forces Inuyasha to realize his feelings" in this one, not so much a matchmaker... yet really, I guess he kinda is... just... he isn't. O.O Yeah. And you too, thanks! -huggles-

More soon!  
Peace-ouT


	4. Come Together

DISCLAIMER. I don't own Inuyasha. I wish I did; he's darn cute. n.n

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qqq.ppp  
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A month later, Kagome stared out over a lush field with the two women that had quickly become her best friends, willing herself to revel only in the wonderful taste of their shared picnic lunch. But as she glanced at Kikyou, she realized it was of no use. What good was it to be happy when you had no one to share your joy with?

"It's so odd, you leaving," Sango muttered, playing around with the uneaten food in her hands.

"Huh?"

"It's like. . . you belong here now. I know you have to go, but in my mind, I'm still wondering. . . ."

"Wondering why?"

Sango grinned, barely. "Yeah."

"Someone has to take Kagura down, and who better than the one she's attacking in the first place? I stayed to help rebuild the school with the rest of you, but now that that's done, it's my duty to bring her down. The whole reason I came here was to learn how to fight her. . . . I knew I'd have to leave at some point."

"I guess."

Kagome forced a smile onto her face, laughing at a pitch not quite right for her vocal range. "At least Inuyasha will be freed of an annoyance!"

"DON'T tell me you're that blind."

The other two startled at the sound of their comrade's voice. Kikyou had risen from her calm position on the ground, eyes flaring in the mid-autumn evening sun's orange glow.

"Kikyou, what --"

"I thought you were more than a vile liar! My arrows were kept from your heart for that reason alone! Don't tell me you don't know!"

"Know? Know wha -- KIKYOU!"

She had fled.

----------  
qqq.ppp  
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Inuyasha dragged his feet down the newly erected steps of Elmsmagick Academy. He wasn't sure why he was going where he was going, but he was going there.

He was, that is, until the figure of one of his friends could be seen racing towards the area he stood in.

"Kikyou!"

She looked up, and rage was on her face such as he had never seen before.

"You! What are you doing here?"

"I WAS going out to say goodbye to Kagome and spend some time with you and Sango. . . . Kikyou, what's wrong?"

"Why do you want to know, you, who cares for no one except her?"

His eyes grew wide, and suddenly the look on her face spoke oceans to him.

"Kikyou. . . that's not true. Why would I bother asking you what was wrong if I didn't care about you?"

"Because. . . you. . . !"

He cut her off, taking tight hold of her hands. She was speechless, she, who through her jealousy had cared for no one but him.

"Kikyou. . . I do care about you. But can you also allow me. . . to care about her. . . differently?"

She squeezed his fingers in hers, then let go.

". . . Yes."

----------  
qqq.ppp  
----------

Now Kagome was alone, left to watch listlessly as night's shadows fell over the field that barely minutes ago had shifted with the waves of her cheerless laugher. She left tonight.

Would she be hated by Kikyou for the rest of her life?

"Kagome?"

A shadow with Inuyasha's ears came closer to her, drawing net to her own, shorter, shadow. The two rippled over the slope of a steep hill overlooking a pond alight with fireflies.

"Hi." The voice coming from her throat was strangled, not her own.

"I came to say goodbye. Miroku and Shippou have to be in class right now, but they wish you luck. And Shippou sends you a hug."

She smiled at the thought of Shippou jumping violently into thin air and telling his companion to send the motion to her.

"Goodbye to all of you."

"Listen, Kagome. . . . I have something else to say to you, too. . . ."

She looked up for the first time, and his eyes were wide and sincere, determination shimmering in his irises. His lips hung half-apart on words not yet said.

Moving closer to him, she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him as tightly to her body as possible, not breaking his eye contact. He ducked forward, their noses now mere millimeters apart.

She laid a cool, pale finger over his lips. "Tell me when I get back."

His eyes widened in surprise. "You're coming back?"

"I can't leave a conversation unfinished, can I?"

For each of them, the smile they shared was their first real one in weeks. She slipped out of his embrace, walking calmly down the road leading away from Elmsmagick and from him.

The night wind felt good on her face, carrying the promise that someone would be waiting, hoping, living for the day of her return.

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-- the end --  
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**x** Big thank-you's to **_Dixy-Angel_** (sorry about the wait), **_Esta_**, **_DragonCrystal_**, **_inu-dog-dem_**, and **_Blossom of Death_** (VERY cool pen name.)  
**x** **_ImCrazyAndProudOfIT_** - Toutousai is the swordsmith that crafted Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga.  
**x _Insane Chipmunk_** - Thanks for the criticism bit on Kagome's crying. It's good to know what you're doing badly as well as what you're doing well, and since I'm pretty inexperienced with doing Kagome's kind of character, it helped me get a better grasp on her. XD  
**x** _**Electric Fire**_ - Indeed, it is freaky how the practically-twins compete for him. I actually prefer him with Kikyou now, but when I started this (which was. . . a long time ago) I was all "KAGOME IS DA BOMB! KAGSxINU 4EVA, BABY!" So yeah, you can see where that ended up.  
**x** **_Jess-chan_** - Sorry for the long wait. . . . :sweatdrop: Hope you liked it, though. And thanks for all your awesome reviews!

Wow. . . I haven't written the words "the end" since like January. It feels. . . weird. Thanks to everyone who reviewed or emailed me through the course of this -- you guys rock!

Peace-ouT,  
Lilacs


	5. epilogue

DISCLAIMER.  
Inuyasha ain't mine. Which is sad, the dude is cute. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE.  
Yeah, this story was originally going to be quite a bit longer than it ended up, but I ran out of both enthusiasm and inspiration. BUT, true to my promise of never abandoning a fic past one chapter long, I'm at least finishing it. Sorry if I've let people down, and here ya go with the epilogue.

-wvwvwvw-

Kagome stepped clumsily off an oxen-drawn cart. Struggling to regain her balance, she awkwardly waved her thanks to the cart's driver, heading down the long dirt lane to Elmsmagick. Black spots skittered through her patchy vision, making it so she wasn't really sure what she was seeing, where she was going. It was dark, so dark.

She bit her lip as her knee-caps became thoroughly numbed by exhaustion. Why, HOW, did this have to happen? Trees of light blurred and stiffened before her, shaking cold liquid to the corners of her eyes. A tree root collided with her foot, and she fell. Salty water fell to the ground directly under her face. She forced herself up, blundering further forth.

Just a little farther. Just a little farther, and she could be happy. One more time was all she wanted, just one.

Again she fell, this time at the mercy of a rock. Her sharp cry cut through the freezing air.

To the bare ground she crumbled, not caring anymore. At least it all wouldn't end in pain; she couldn't FEEL anything. And Kagura was gone, Kagura was gone. A smile, perhaps her last. Kagura was dead.

"Kagura. . . dead. Hah. . ."

The forest was silent.

-wvwvwvw-

A time later -- not even Kaede or Kikyou could be exactly sure how long she had slept -- Kagome awoke, the crinkling of a bed of leaves sounding from beneath her as she jerked up. Funny, Kagome had never pictured heaven as having leaf beds. It was nice, she thought.

A pair of bright gold eyes were suddenly very close to hers, and she started.

"I-Inuyasha! What are YOU doing here?"

"I WORK here."

"W-work. . . heaven. . . what?"

"Heaven? Tch. Far from it, the way Kaede works us these days."

And she realized.

"Am I. . . home?"

"Where else?"

It felt good.

-wvwvwvw-

Okay, that was the -real- end.

Peace out, y'all.  
-Lilacs


End file.
